


boundaries

by orphan_account



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: F/M, melinda/andrew mentioned
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-07
Updated: 2015-05-07
Packaged: 2018-03-29 10:32:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 792
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3893089
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>She said that their boundaries were clear; they always had been. And it was true. She was married, once upon a time. He was married to the job, and no one expected anything less of him. But for every boundary set in life, there is an equal or greater number of oppositions. And so, they tested the boundaries.</p>
            </blockquote>





	boundaries

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this for my literature assignment but decided to post it here, because I must say, I'm proud.

She said that their boundaries were clear; they always had been. And it was true. She was married, once upon a time. He was married to the job, and no one expected anything less of him. But for every boundary set in life, there is an equal or greater number of oppositions. And so, they tested the boundaries.

Toeing the thin line between what they should have been and what they were was a dangerous game. “Strictly professional”, they had each said time and time again when questioned.

“I would never even think of it.”

“She’s married.”

“Just friends.”

No, they would never be together. They were two different people, working together, fighting the good fight. Yes, they were friends; after years of late-night homework sessions and god awful transitions between jobs they had always remained together, so how could they not have formed attachments to each other?

He had known her long before she met her ex-husband. The two men had actually been quite good friends, which is why it came as such a shock when she showed up to work wearing the same clothes as she had been the day before.

He found himself at odds. She was happy; showed up every day afterward with a broad smile on her face. He was happy for her as well, and the happier she was the better their day was together. She talked more than she ever had before, and laughed. She was always laughing.

He loved her laugh.

One day she had come into work steel-faced. “Is everything okay?” he had asked her.

The response was a solemn nod, and then she looked away.

The next day, she was the same way. But as she packed her things to head home, she decided to speak up. “He asked me to marry him,” she said.

It was a blade through his chest.

But as he always had, he supported her. “What did you say?” he asked through the gold ball lodged in his throat.

“Nothing yet,” came her response, quiet. Her eyes never left his.

“Well...good luck. With your decision making.”

She didn’t know what she expected. Was she hoping that he would stop her? Tell her what to choose?

By doing neither, she had her answer.

She showed up on Friday with an engagement ring on her finger and they both smiled at each other. Both were fake.

Six years later is the first time he hears the word “family” from her mouth.

“You two are trying to have a baby?” he asked. She nodded in response. Smiling. Giddy.

Happy.

She knew that he wasn’t a fan of children. Not to say that he hated them, but had never shown any interest in having his own at any point. But she, on the other hand, loved them. They were warm and open-minded. They displayed no animosity, forgave all sins.

She wanted that.

Two months later she didn’t show up for work. For three days she called in sick and he knew that it wasn’t true. She was hiding something.

He had knocked on her door each of the three days hoping to hear from her.

His voice was calling her name from the front door, but she didn’t move from her spot on the bed. Her husband was at work and she sat alone in her bedroom, surrounded by silence.

Letting it engulf her.

She was only five weeks along; had only known she was expecting for a few days. But the pain of losing it hit her ten times harder than she ever could have anticipated.

Perhaps she was wrong in not answering the door. Perhaps giving him an explanation was the better option than the cold shoulder.

But would that overstep their boundaries? She hadn’t told her own husband yet; he hadn’t known about the baby at all, much less that it was gone.

No, she was married. She just...worked with him. Their boundaries were clear. She didn’t owe him anything; no explanation was due. This was her life, her mess.

Four years later she got a divorce. Her ex called her distant, said that she hid from him. Said that even when she was there, she wasn’t there.

He was right.

She found a new job. She was quiet, contempt, at peace.

Until the man who she spent years working with, confiding in, decided one day that they should work together again. She hesitantly accepted.

So here she is again. Back where they began; with her best friend.

But he knew deep within her chest that he wasn’t just her best friend anymore. He looked at her through his peripheral vision and gave her that sly smile. He knew it too.

They had overstepped their boundaries. 


End file.
